The Book of John - 44

Introduction - We are continuing in the book of John in chapter 7 leading up to the discourse at the Feast of Booths. In this chapter so far, in the first five verses, the Bible gives the background leading up to this celebration in Jerusalem.

In the last lesson, we spent some time looking at the difference between worldly wisdom by the statement of the Lord’s brothers, versus godly wisdom— being directed by God.

The Lord’s Discourse At The Feasts of Booths John 7

The description of this opposition. vss. 1-2

The demand of his brothers. vss. 3-4

The distrust of his brothers. vs. 5

Let’s read together verses 6-9:

John 7:6–9 “6 Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready. 7 The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil. 8 Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; for my time is not yet full come. 9 When he had said these words unto them, he abode still in Galilee.”

Here were men going up to a religious feast, yet rejecting their own Messiah! How easy it is to follow tradition and miss eternal truth. (Wiersbe)

Let’s pray.

In your notes, if you fill in the blank for the following statements, we see:

The dividing statement of the Lord. vss. 6-9

In these verses we have recorded for us the Lord’s reply. I want you to make note of the dividing statement given by the Lord.

John 7:6 “6 Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready.”

We looked at several passages already concerning worldly wisdom and godly wisdom.

The book of James gives us some help in this matter and tells us that we are to ask God for wisdom.

God who is rich and mercy and who knows the infirmity of our flesh promises to give us wisdom and direction.

James 1:5 states, “5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”

Proverbs 2:6 “6 For the Lord giveth wisdom: Out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.”

From the book of Proverbs, we understand that wisdom not only should be sought by asking in prayer, but wisdom is discovered in the pages of Scripture.

There is a difference given here between the path of the Lord, and the path of His brothers— whom the Bible tells us believe not.

And just as a side note, not that this lessens the difficulty of having His family reject Him, the Bible foretold of His brothers rejection in Psalm 69:8–9 “8 I am become a stranger unto my brethren, And an alien unto my mother’s children. 9 For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; And the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.”

Jesus states, My time is not yet come. And He states further, your time is alway ready.

This statement shows the two divergent paths—- on the one path you have those who are following after God—- on the other path you have those who are taken according to the course of the world.

Ephesians 2:2 describes this very thing. When Paul was addressing the church in Ephesus, He stated “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:”

The course of this world says follow your own heart.

The course of this world says your way is the best way.

The course of this world says— follow what seems best in your own eyes.

The course of this world says— you know what is best —captain your own sense.

The Lord states to His brother, “My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready.”

What exactly is meant by these statements?

The Lord operates off of His divine timetable, not man’s.

My friend, aren’t you glad for that!

It was not the divine time for the Lord to go to this Feast.

It was not the divine time for the Lord to reveal Himself in that manner!

It was not the divine time for His final confrontation with the Jewish religious leaders.

One expositor stated, “There is human time and God’s time; careless time and precious time; earthbound time and eternal time.”

Oftentimes we want God to operate off of our timetable and not His.

Remember the brothers of Jesus were trying to compel the Lord to reveal Himself in fantastic fashion.

I want you to realize that there will be a time according to God’s plan when He will reveal Himself to Jerusalem in the kind of manner that His brothers suggested.

In Revelation 19:11–12 “11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.”

In Revelation 1:7 the Word of God further states, “7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.”

Can you imagine if God’s design was for the Lord at that moment to judge and to make war—?

It is best for the Christian to wait on God’s timing! Sometimes this seems like the most difficult thing in the world to do.

The Bible tells us however in Psalm 27:14 “14 Wait on the Lord: Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: Wait, I say, on the Lord.”

David in Psalm 25 states this:

Psalm 25:1–5 “1 Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. 2 O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, Let not mine enemies triumph over me. 3 Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: Let them be ashamed which transgress without cause. 4 Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths. 5 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: For thou art the God of my salvation; On thee do I wait all the day.”

We find similarly in Proverbs 20:22 “22 Say not thou, I will recompense evil; But wait on the Lord, and he shall save thee.”

I read a topical outline concerning God’s timing, I would like for you to consider:

Outline by Rod Mattoon

God’s Timing Provides Daily Bread

Consider:

The Widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17:9-16)

“This woman was scraping the bottom of the barrel of meal. She was preparing her final morsel of food when God sent Elijah to her home at her desperate hour to be a blessing to her and bring about a miraculous provision of her needs.”

The Shunnamite Woman (2 Kings 4:1-7)

“She is about to go bankrupt when God sent Elisha the prophet to her just in time. He was also used of God to bring about the miraculous provision of funds that she needed to live.”

The Feeding of the 5000 (Matthew 14:15-21)

“It is the end of the day and the followers of Jesus are tired and hungry. There are so many people and not enough food to meet all the needs of this multitude.”

God’s Timing Provides Direction

Israel at the Red Sea

“Cornered by the Egyptian army and no place to turn, God opens the Red Sea at Israel’s most dangerous and desperate moment. He gave direction when they needed it the most.”

Abraham’s Servant (Wife for Isaac - Genesis 24:13-26)

“This man was looking for a wife for Isaac. He asked God to lead him to the right woman for his master’s son. When he comes to a well, Rebekah of Abraham’s family just happens to be the woman who comes to the well. God had her in the right place at the right time. He directed this servant to the right woman.”

Little Maid and Naaman (2 Kings 5:1-4)

“When Namaan contracted leprosy, God used a captive, little maid to give him direction..”

God’s Timing Provides Destruction to the Wicked

King Saul (2 Chronicles 18:33,34)

“At the right time and right place, God used a soldier to be the instrument of judgment upon Saul. This soldier fired an arrow that found its mark through the joints of Saul’s armor.”

Haman (Esther 7:9-10)

“Haman’s plot is exposed at the right time to bring hope for the Jews. Haman is punished by being hung on the gallows he built for Mordecai.”

God’s Timing Provides Deliverance

Elijah (1 Kings 19)

“Elijah was depressed and wanted to die. An angel touches him and feeds him, bringing strength when he desperately needed it.”

David (1 Samuel 23:24-28)

“David was surrounded by Saul who was moving in for the kill when all of the sudden Saul withdraws because of a Philistine attack in another area. God’s timing was perfect”

Peter (Acts 12:6-7)

“On the eve of his execution, Peter is rescued and delivered by an angel.”

Jonah (John 1:17)

“In spite of his disobedience, God had a fish prepared to deliver Jonah when he was thrown overboard into the sea.”

Joseph (Genesis 45:4-5)

“God used the suffering, slavery, and imprisonment of Joseph to put him into a position to interpret the dreams of a butler and baker and several years later the dreams of the Pharaoh.”

Moses as baby (Exodus 2:5-6)

“Pharaoh was killing the baby boys of Egypt. The mother of Moses put him in an ark on the Nile River in order to save her baby. God directed the ark to the princess of Egypt.”

Mordecai (Esther 6:1-11)

“On the eve of Mordecai’s execution by Haman, the king has insomnia and happens to read in the exact place where Mordecai saved his life.”

All I am trying to point out to you by the wide variety of situations and outcomes recorded in the Scriptures, is that God’s timing is perfect. The Lord directs His people.

Could I assure you this morning if you are waiting on the Lord—-you are not wasting your time!

We ought to desire to be directed by Him.

And as we see in this passage the Lord Jesus Christ makes a distinction between His divine timing and the timing of His brothers.

Notice again in verse 6. The Bible says John 7:6 “6 Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready.”

The Lord continues in verses 7-8.

John 7:7–8 “7 The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil. 8 Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; for my time is not yet full come.”

What does this mean?

Well it tells us this, that unbelievers, whether flesh and blood or not may not understand the decisions that you make.

It tells us further, that we should not be surprised, when unbelievers or even Christians who are carnal, walk according to the dictates of this world.

For those who operate according the dictates of the flesh, there are no godly constraints to guide them. Christians on the other hand ought to be led by the Lord.

My friend, the question is for you and I is this, Are we going to be guided by God in our lives, through prayer, His Word, and His presence, or are we going to be guided by worldly wisdom?

The results of these differing choices appear in the text in verse 7.

For those who operate with the flow of the world, the world will not hate them.

For those who operate according to God’s plan, they will be hated by the world.

The Lord later states in John 15:18 “18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.”

The divine mission was for the Lord to testify of the works, that they are evil.

The Lord in His life and ministry pointed out the depravity and sinfulness of the world. In John 1 and John 3, He is the Light — His Light exposes the world for what it is. He further pointed out the false religion of the world. Just like today, man has prevented and contrived of all manner of religious ways to approach God that fall short of Salvation.

Because of this exposure, the world hates the Lord Jesus Christ.

The departing for the feast. vss. 9-10

In verses 9 and 10 as we close, we see the departing of the Lord for the feast.

John 7:9–10 “9 When he had said these words unto them, he abode still in Galilee. 10 But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.”

We do not know the exact timing of His going, but we know according to verse 14, that He was there by the middle of the feast. There is some evidence that perhaps He went up that very day.

But the point is this, He did go up to the Feast, just not according to His brother’s timing but God’s.

And as we consider these verses and as we close this first section:

Would you be willing to submit yourself to God’s timing for everything?

That presupposes that you are seeking His will for your life and the decisions you make.

That presupposes that you are reading His Word and obeying God’s wisdom.

That presupposes that you are praying and asking the Lord to give you godly wisdom and guard you from worldly wisdom creeping in.

The discussion of the people. vss. 11-13

The debut of the Lord incognito. vss. 14-24

The division and decision of the crowd. vss. 25-27

The disclosing of the Lord. vss. 28-29

The design to take Him. vss. 30-45

The disgust of the religious rulers. vss. 46-53

The Lord’s Defense and Discourse As The Light Of The World John 8

B. The Denouncing of the Opposition John 9-10

The Lord’s Display Through The Blind Man John 9

The Lord’s Discourse As The Shepherd John 10

C. The Determination of the Opposition John 11-12